The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-06-20
A GREAT rosrorr1cn
What "smash" Il. and How It Il Ham
died.

dlod.
While the rush Of New Yorkb out
going mail is ct its height, and men are
working tooth and nail to make some
progress against the inundating flood
that comes'n from the business houses,
the rumble Of the heavy wagons comes
family in through the open doorways
at the northern end Of the building,
and growl of pardonable profanity
passes around among the hard worked
men as they think of over 1000 extra
pieces suddenly to be dumped upon
their hands. This is Smash" in the
vernacular OF the postoffice. 1t is like
o break in the levee to the inhabitants
Of Mississippi town, and can be con
quered only by the most herculean eff
forts. 1t differs from the western flood
chiefly in the frequency of its coming.
tits at such times as this that the splen-
did efficiency Of the New York postof-
fee is shown to perfection. The mag
nifcent spectacle Of regiment Of
trained men working together with the
precision OF clockwork, and keen in
tensity which causes the great noun
tains of paper TO dwindle away into q
thousand receptacles, is worth going O
great way to see. But few arc privi-
legged to see it. The postoflice is hard
nut to crack. 1t is nut with two shells.
All can penetrate the outer husk, but
when il comes to cracking the inner
shell, the penetralia, Of this hive of in
dustry, one must have uncommon good
luck to make q success of it,
Exactly how big smash" it would
take to overwheIm the Office is one Of
these problems that have never yet been
solved, for the reason that the Office
has always come out triumphantly from
the severest trials. Considering that
the dolly average OF pieces handled is
two and quarter millions, and that
the run of mail matter is always more or
less irregular, the working force at the
disposition OF Postmaster Pearson must
ofnecessity be large and fexible-that
is to say, some must be qualified to move
from one place to another whenever
stress comes upon particular depart
ment. But when, on the contrary, the
constant pressure OF regular work is
brought into consideration, one cannot
help wondering that the Office should
be capable of performing the tremend-
Gus spurts which SO frequently is
recorded by it.
II is safe to say that there is no
buster spot on earth than this clearing
house Of Uncle Sans. No one can
spend a couple Of hours within the great
rotunda and wonder that so many OF
the employees are cultivating shortness
of sight and open spaces on the top Of
their heads. The ceaseless pulse Of
labor which beats there day and night,
week day and holiday, year in and
year out, is enough to make the mere
spectator dizzy. The big postoflice is
always busy.
The first thing that happens to q
piece of mail matter when it enters the
Office at either end is the stamping Of
day and hour upon it. This record is
never omitted. 1t is the departments
badge Of honor, for one can always see
with what celebrity his mail reaches its
destination after it has once been BRAN
ded with the familiar "P. o. N. Y"
Next comes the distribution, so divided
into "large" and "close" assortments
that the utmost speed is attained by
several landings. In the case Of mails
coming into town as much assortment
as possible has already taken place.
The bank letters, for instance, have
been placed together and they are al
ways bundled first. This one depart
ment is no child's play, for the New
York banks receive from 1000 to 1000
letters apiece every day. Then comes
the separation of box letters from car
rier letters by distributing clerks OF
the highest degree of expertness, and
then the more "close" distribution,
either into the boxes of the different car
riers or of the box tenants. If it be
near the carriers hour of departure the
clerks are concentrated upon their mail
while tho box delivery fills up the chinks
OF time between whites. These are all
somewhat familiar processes, however,
and do not need charging upon--New
York Herald.